Politics In The Justice Department?

So Bush is not feeling his Attorney General on
the handling of the fired prosecutors. Well thats
too bad cause those peoples should never have
been fired in the first place, at least not on the
grounds that they were not loyal to the Bush
administration. That in itself is dangerous in
light of all the legal problems and setbacks
the Bush administration has been having.
When these prosecutors were fired was a
signal being sent to remaining lawyers.
I've made my conclusions and would like
to hear yours.


President Bush said today he is "not happy" about how the Justice Department handled the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys last year, and said Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales has "got some work up there" in better explaining the events to Congress."Mistakes were made, and I'm frankly not happy about it," Bush said during a joint news conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon in Merida, Mexico.

Gonzales acknowledged Tuesday that "mistakes were made" in the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys last year, but he rejected calls for his resignation from Democrats incensed by fresh evidence that the Bush administration testified inaccurately about its role in the controversy.Noting that U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president, Bush said that what Gonzales did in firing the prosecutors was "appropriate. What was mishandled was the explanation of the cases to the Congress, and Al's got some work to do up there.

"The increasing pressure on Gonzales to resign coincided with the House Judiciary Committee's release of e-mails between Justice Department officials and the White House detailing a quiet two-year campaign to oust U.S. attorneys who had fallen out of favor with the administration.The e-mails undercut the sworn congressional testimony of several Justice Department officials, including Deputy Atty. Gen. Paul J. McNulty, the department's No. 2 official, about the circumstances of the departures. The release of the messages put the White House and the Justice Department on the defensive and fueled the burgeoning controversy on Capitol Hill.

On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee stepped up its investigation into the dismissals as well, sending letters seeking cooperation from past and present White House officials, including President Bush's top political strategist, Karl Rove. The panel also sent letters to Gonzales and to White House counsel Fred F. Fielding seeking documents relating to the firings.Gonzales sought to contain the firestorm at a hastily called news briefing Tuesday, accepting responsibility for the ouster of the eight prosecutors and acknowledging that the situation had been poorly handled.

But he said he would continue in the job and pinned most of the blame on the failure of his chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, to keep him and other department officials informed. Sampson resigned Monday."I am here not because I give up," Gonzales said. "I am here because I've learned from my mistakes, because I accept responsibility, and because I'm committed to doing my job, and that is what I intend to do."





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